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LOCAL

City hall teams up with Indigenous education sector

The City of Saskatoon is forging a closer relationship with Indigenous educational institutions in an effort to achieve its goals for a more diverse workforce. City council unanimously endorsed negotiating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) and the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research at Monday’s governance and priorities committee meeting. Click here to read more …

Jack Grover attends hearing over condition of rental property

Mary-Ann McLeod says she’s looking forward to the holidays after months of uncertainty. At a hearing before the Office of Residential Tenancies (OTR) on Monday, she reviewed photos of the Avenue F rental unit she shared with her son Jonathan between May and September, before the Saskatoon health region ruled it unfit for human occupation and they were rendered temporarily homeless. Click here to read more …

NATIONAL

Feds to give provinces 75 per cent of pot tax revenues, own take capped at $100M

OTTAWA — The federal government has agreed to give the provinces and territories a 75 per cent share of the tax revenues from the sale of legalized marijuana, a portion of which will be meted out to cities and towns to help them defray the cost of making pot legal across Canada. Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the two-year agreement today after a day-long meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts. Click here to read more …

WORLD

Officials see weapons threat as North Korea gains biotech expertise

Five months before North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, U.S. intelligence officials sent a report to Congress warning that secret work also was underway on a biological weapon. The communist regime, which had long ago acquired the pathogens that cause smallpox and anthrax, had assembled teams of scientists but seemed to be lacking in certain technical skills, the report said. “Pyongyang’s resources presently include a rudimentary biotechnology infrastructure,” the report by the director of national intelligence explained. Click here to read more …

SPORTS

Blades’ D-man Libor Hajek gets set to join Czech Republic at world juniors

When it comes to the world juniors, this is the last kick at the hockey can for Libor Hajek. He’s determined to make the best of his opportunity. “Way more hungrier,” confirms Hajek, who will once again be trying to crack the Czech Republic roster for the IIHF world junior hockey championship. “It’s exciting and I hope I make it this year. That’s what I’m gunning for.” Click here to read more …

ARTS

Artistic Director Del Surjik unveils the updated history wall showcasing the past 10 seasons (2007-2017) of Persephone Theatre on its 10th anniversary in its current location in the Remai Arts Centre by River Landing in Saskatoon on Dec. 11, 2017.Michelle Berg /
Saskatoon StarPhoenix

X marks the spot for Persephone at River Landing

The sign outside Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre could say “578,770 served.” That’s the attendance since it opened 10 years ago at River Landing. Beauty and the Beast was the first production in December 2007. Since then, the theatre has accumulated almost 2,000 performances of 150 plays. Click here to read more …

OPINION

Mandryk: Listening to the wrong stakeholders becoming bigger issue for Sask. Party

One might think that business tycoons pouring tens of thousand of dollars into various Saskatchewan Party leadership campaigns would be the most untoward example of undue influence hampering this party and the provincial government. This surely is a problem given the questions surrounding the Regina bypass and Global Transportation Hub. However, it’s a problem that could be easily rectified by electoral reform legislation (and used for future leadership races) that severely caps how much individuals, corporations and unions can contribute. Click here to read more …

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